


The Hours After Ragnarok

by Brunhild



Category: Ragnarok (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Ragnarok Netflix 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27621416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brunhild/pseuds/Brunhild
Summary: Magne and Laurits finally get answers to their questions from an unlikely source, however the answers that they receive only lead to more questions. Fjor teams up with Magne and Lauritis as he awaits his uncertain future in the Jutal family.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	The Hours After Ragnarok

The Hours After Ragnarok

Magne and Laurits finally get answers to their questions from an unlikely source, however the answers that they receive only lead to more questions. Fjor teams up with Magne and Lauritis as he awaits his uncertain future in the Jutal family.

Magne had regained consciousness after feeling the cold wet downpour of rain on his blood-soaked skin. He was sore everywhere, he had a headache, he got up slowly and tried to shake off what had just happened to him. He had to think about that. What had just happened? It came to him slowly, he had followed Gry and Fjor to an old warehouse that the Jutals owned. He had walked in on Fjor attacking Gry, he picked up a hammer and hit Fjor in the back of the head, Magne had intended to fight Fjor, he was interrupted by Vidar Jutul who came and started attacking him. The two men fought, Vidar was stronger than Magne, Magne had almost given up when he summoned every bit of strength he had and summoned the thunder and lightning from the sky. The old woman Wenche had been right, he was indeed Thor or a reincarnation of the god, now which was it? Up until that moment he had never believed that he was that strong. Summoning thunder and lightning were harder than he thought. It took everything that he had, he had been struck, Vidar had been struck, both men had been knocked unconscious by the strike, Vidar was dead, he looked that way anyhow. Good riddance thought Magne as he walked away from the warehouse, blooded and dazed. He walked around in the rain for a half hour, most of the blood was rinsed from his clothes. He walked to the mountains after the rain stopped and sat down for a while, he was cold and went back to the village where he found an old shed to take cover in, he stayed there for a few hours until he could dry off somewhat. Hours ago, he had seen a helicopter overhead, it looked like a medical evacuation helicopter, they came to Edda from time to time, it must be pretty serious if a helicopter was called in. In Edda, either you were living or dead. Magne left the shed, he was hungry, sore and tired. He checked his pockets; he had some money so he went to The Edda Grille. The owner of the grill, Kjell walked over to take his order, a triple cheeseburger, large fries and a strawberry shake, it was something about electrocuting someone that took a lot out of a person reasoned Magne as he laughed to himself. Kjell looked at Magne with suspicion, but did not say anything. He gave Magne his order and he walked out of the grill.

  
Magne walked to house in the dark, it had to be after eleven o’clock at night now, it was so quiet. How long had he been walking around outside? He got to his front doorstep, unlocked the door and walked in. He just knew that his mom was going to make a big deal about him not coming home before nightfall. Magne was surprised that his mom was still up at this hour, all of the lights were on noted Magne as he walked into the house. Lauritis and his mother Turid were sitting at the table drinking a bottle of water and eating cheese sandwiches, both of them were abnormally quiet. Magne sat his food down. Turid handed a him a bottle of water. He declined. Turid and Lauritis looked at Magne as he ran upstairs to take a hot shower. Magne stayed in the shower for a long time thinking about what had happened that day. Downstairs, Lauritis looked at Turid.  
“Do you think that he knows anything about what happened this evening?” asked Lauritis as he looked over at an upset Turid.  
“I am almost afraid to ask.” She said as she stared at some distant object behind Lauritis. Eventually Magne came downstairs dressed in grey sweats and white socks.  
“Where have you been?” asked Turid as she looked at Magne as he opened his food. Magne ignored her until he ate his first fry, Turid grabbed one as did Lauritis. Lauritis looked at his brother’s dinner.  
“If you eat all of that, I will hear your arteries hardening as you sleep tonight!” joked Lauritis as he laughed at his brother as Turid gave him a mean look. Magne looked at Turid.  
“I was just walking around, getting a little air. I got bored at the ceremony and went to do my own thing.” Magne proceeded to eat his food. He could sense his mother wanted to talk about something.  
“Did you hear about what happened?” Magne shook his head “No.”  
“Vidar Jutal was struck by lightening earlier today. It was just before the ceremony ended, he was out checking on one of his warehouses and he was struck going back to his vehicle. He was flown to Oslo, they think that he will be okay, Ran and Saxa drove down to be with him. The strangest thing out of all of this is that they could not find Fjor to tell him what had happened to Vidar.” Turid was very wrapped up in what had just happened to Vidar. Lauritis and Magne suspected that Vidar and Turid had been involved with each other years ago. Magne remembered the day at the gas station as Vidar looked over and saw his mother, the man practically ran over a gas pump to get to where Turid stood. He grabbed her by the arms and they smiled at one another. Magne took an almost immediate dislike to the man. The man turned to him as Turid introduced the two of them. Vidar shook his hand and he thought that he heard a clap of thunder in the distance. Now it was clear why Magne had taken an immediate dislike to Vidar, the man was responsible for his father’s death. He had admitted it. Now how would he ever manage to tell his mother who held her beloved Vidar on a pedestal. Magne continued to eat, he looked at Lauritis who had a head of blonde hair. Another one of Lauritis schemes no doubt. The telephone rang, Turid picked up the telephone, she talked for a brief moment before hanging up the telephone.

  
“That was Jan, Gry’s father, she didn’t come home after the ceremony, they called Fjor’s telephone and Gry’s phone and neither of them are answering their phones, Magne, did you see either of them when you were out?” inquired Turid with a worried look on her face.  
“No, I haven’t seen either of them since the ceremony. I suppose they went off some place to talk or something. Maybe they are just riding around.”  
“Yeah, I bet! said Lauritis as he answered a text from Oskar on his phone. “Gry and Fjor were reported missing a few hours ago. No one knows where they are, Oskar’s mom and several other detectives are looking for them now.”  
“Oh my, I hope that they are okay, Magne are you sure that you didn’t see them this evening?” Magne shook his head. Lauritis looked over at Magne, he suspected that Magne knew more than he was saying, he could sense it, he didn’t want to tell his mother because she would just bother Magne with a ton of questions or call the police or the mental health people on him. He didn’t want to see his brother go through that again, he didn’t know if Magne could cope with all of that a second time. Turid got up and started walking around nervously. Who knew what was on her mind, probably Vidar thought Lauritis as he got ready to bid his mother and brother good night. Turid, visibly upset, got ready to go to bed, Lauritis kissed his mother goodnight and went upstairs. Turid went over to Magne, she looked at him and gave him a quick hug, he kissed his mom on the forehead like she always did for him. He gave her a silent, “everything is going to be okay” look like she often did him when he was a small boy. Silently, Turid went to her room to go to bed. Magne finished his food, he got up to push his chair up to the table and throw his garbage away. He thought about how his day had went, he couldn’t believe the day that he had just had. He had started the day as a mortal and now he was a god, a god capable of summoning lightening and electrocuting enemies. What would Turid and Lauritis think of him if he told them what he had done? What if the police and the mental health people find out about what he had done, what would they do with him? Ran and Saxa would eventually come looking for him too. What if Vidar survived, what would he do? Too much to think about thought Magne as he went to pick up the remote control to watch tv until he got sleepy.

Magne went over to the big recliner in the corner of the room to sit down to watch tv. He decided to watch a couple of SKAM episodes on the DVR box that Lauritis had recorded. In the middle of the second episode, Magne heard a knock at the door, just who would be knocking on the door at 1:00 a.m. in the morning, could it be Vidar? What if someone had news about Gry? Magne went to the door, he picked up a knife as he went to open the door. He looked out of the window it was Fjor Jutal. Fjor looked up at Magne.  
“Just what the hell do you want here Fjor? What did you do to Gry, she is missing? If you hurt her, I plan to kill you.” Said Magne.  
“Magne, Gry is at home safe, I apologized to her and explained things as best as I could considering the circumstances. I need to talk to you, could you let me in please?”  
“Why, so you can kill me for killing Vidar? Vidar deserved everything he got and some besides. He is evil, he killed my father and he killed Isolde.” Fjor thought about everything Magne had just said. He didn’t plan to kill Magne, Gry or anyone else. Despite their differences, Fjor was thankful that Magne had been there to rescue he and Gry, the other boy had saved his life yesterday, if Magne had not been there, Vidar would have killed him and Gry. Fjor respected Magne now, he realized that he also loved Gry. Fjor knew that he would have some hard decisions to make in the upcoming days. He was hoping Magne would understand his situation. In his mind, Vidar deserved what Magne had done to him. After some serious thought, Magne opened the door and invited Fjor inside, against his better judgement he thought. Fjor sighed as he walked in with a duffel bag in his hand and a backpack on his back. Fjor spoke.

“Magne, I owe you an explanation for what is going on, but first I need to ask a favor of you, could I possibly stay here with you and your family for the next couple of days? Saxa and Ran will be looking for me because I betrayed them when I didn’t kill Gry.”  
“Why do they want Gry dead?” Fjor sat down on the edge of the sofa. Magne handed him a bottle of water which he took and drank most of in one swallow.  
“Gry knows what I—me and my family are. She went into Vidar’s study and she found some pictures of our family, she noticed that through the ages until now, no one has really changed, we have always looked the same, past and present.” Fjor looked over at a confused Magne.  
“Jotun?” Fjor nodded.  
“You know that you are Thor, don’t you? Vidar suspected that you may have been, he knew after you came to the house for dinner. Ages ago, Thor dined with the giants in the past and he always liked plates and plates of meat, that and mead.” The two boys laughed. Magne thought that Fjor was crazy. Fjor laughed because he was nervous.  
“I had no intention of being a threat to anyone, but after Isolde got killed, then it was the chemicals hidden inside the glacier, not to mention Vidar admitting to killing my father, this puts things in a different light now.”  
“I understand the way that you feel Magne, things will have to be made right. I plan to help you if I can, if you will let me.” Magne never expected to hear those words from Fjor Jutal. Magne looked over at Fjor.  
“I hope that you meant what you said, I will be holding you to your word.” Fjor nodded. Magne cut the tv off and he told Fjor to follow him upstairs. He told Fjor to be quiet and try not to wake up Turid or Lauritis. Fjor followed Magne into his room. Magne showed Fjor the bunk beds that were in the room. Fjor agreed to take the top bunk. He looked around the small room, not the mansion that he was accustomed to, but he was safe. Magne placed Fjor’s bags in his closet and hid them. Fjor thanked Magne for letting him stay with his family. Magne assured him that he would not tell his mom or brother that he was there. Magne and Fjor were discussing what had happened with Vidar when Lauritis opened the door.  
“Hey, guess what Magne, Gry is back home with her mom and dad, Fjor dropped her off at home about two hours ago!” Lauritis looked up from his phone at a shocked Magne and Fjor. Both boys breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Lauritis who was surprised and quite pleased that the object of his affection was at his very own house.  
“Fjor, you were supposed to come to my bedroom, not my brother’s room!” said Lauritis as he teased Fjor.  
“This is not what you are thinking.”  
“Shut up Lauritis, you can’t even begin to know what this is about.” Sighed a tired Magne as he looked over at an equally tired Fjor.  
“Slumming aren’t you rich boy, don’t worry I won’t tell Ran or Saxa.” Fjor looked down at the floor.  
“I had just wanted to tell you that Gry was okay, I know how you feel about her, even though she is Fjor’s girl.” Smirked Lauritis as he stood in the doorway trying to figure out what Magne and Fjor were up too.  
Magne spoke.  
“Lauritis, I need you to promise me that you won’t tell mom that Fjor is here right now.”  
“Does this have something to do with what happened yesterday afternoon?”  
“Yes.” Said Fjor.  
“No.” Said Magne. Both boys looked at one another. Lauritis raised his eyebrows and spoke.  
“I take it that you don’t want to talk to Saxa either. She texted me at least twenty times asking have I seen you.” Smiled Lauritis as he looked at Fjor.  
“I don’t want to talk to her right now and I would appreciate if you did not tell her that I am at your house or that you have seen me.” Magne silently pleaded with Lauritis to do them this one favor.  
“I will let you two figure out the details of whatever your little plot is, I have to get my beauty rest, good night gentleman. Fjor, I promise I won’t say anything to Saxa or Mom.” Said Lauritis as he bid the two young men goodnight. The two young men got dressed and went to bed.

Magne got up early and prepared breakfast for everyone. He made eggs, pancakes, bacon, sliced oranges and strawberries and found a jar of apple juice. He quickly carried a plate of food upstairs to Fjor who thanked Magne who then hurried back downstairs as Lauritis and Turid sat down to eat breakfast. Turid looked over at the two boys. She spoke.  
“Okay, now that the both of you are here in front of me, I need an explanation for what happened yesterday.”  
“What you mean mom?” asked Magne as he looked over at a blonde Lauritis who lowered his head and laughed.  
“While you were running off to who knows where, your brother Lauritis decided to embarrass Ran Jutal in front of the entire school when he gave the Constitution Day speech dressed as Ran, he also made some very grave insinuations about her as well. I have got to go to a meeting Monday morning at the school, Lauritis will probably be expelled too. Great, now I have two sons that will be expelled! I know that this has gotten back to Vidar already, if it has, I can kiss my job at Jutal Industries goodbye!” Magne grinned.  
“Lauritis, why did you…?”  
“Magne, I couldn’t just sit by and let Ran keep making you out to be the bad guy in all of this. She stepped over the line when she expelled you because you exposed those barrels of chemicals stored in that glacier up on the mountain.” Magne looked at Lauritis, despite their many differences, the two young men agreed on something. Lauritis knew the man that Magne was, he was proud of his brother because he stood up for what he believed in no matter how hard it was. Lauritis watched as his mother and others tried to discredit and destroy Magne. Magne stood his ground.  
“Magne…”  
“Was right all along Mother. The Jutals are into some really bad stuff, they are not the people that you think they are.”  
“Lauritis, I have known Vidar Jutal since high school, he is one of the finest people in this town.”  
Magne was curious, he wanted to ask his mother about somethings.  
“How did you and dad meet? I think you told me and Lauritis how you met him when we were little, but I forgot some of the details.”  
“I don’t remember that story, I want to hear it too.” Said Lauritis as he looked over at a nervous Turid.  
“I met you father when he was doing an engineering internship at Jutal, we had attended high school together, but we never talked much, he was two years older than I was. I worked at Jutal Industries in the summer as a filing clerk. Ashbjorn was twenty-two and I was twenty. Vidar had taken over the administration of the company from his father, his father left abruptly one day, Vidar said it was due to his health. He went to take some treatments in Switzerland and he and his wife decided to stay over there for good. Vidar and his father never got along much anyway.” Magne and Lauritis looked at one another, the conversation always turned to Vidar. Turid sensed what the boys were thinking.  
“Well anyway, Ashbjorn was offered a position at Jutal and he took it. Vidar and I were not dating, we had stopped dating before I met your father. Vidar and Ran had gotten married, she was still living in Bergen because she was finishing her master’s degree in education. She finally moved up here after the children were born. I started dating Ashbjorn my junior year in college. He asked me to marry him the day I graduated college. We got married a few weeks later, we didn’t have a big wedding we didn’t have the money for all of that fanfare. We quickly settled into married life, about a year and a half later, Magne came along and a year later, Lauritis came along.” Turid smiled thinking about her boys. Lauritis had never thought about his dad much, he barely knew him, he remembered that his dad was a tall, man with blue eyes and blond hair, Magne looked so much like him, he was even built like their father. Lauritis reasoned he took more after Turid’s side of the family, but no one in her family was thin. Magne decided to speak up.  
“How did dad die exactly, you always said it was an accident. Are you sure he died in an accident?” asked Magne as he looked over at Turid.  
“Yes, of course it was an accident, the medical examiner said so, he fell when he was climbing one of the mountains near here, they said that he lost his footing and fell about fifty feet.”  
“Who was with him that day?”  
“No one was with him. He went climbing that day by himself.”  
“Did he always go by himself?” asked Magne.  
“Most of the time, sometimes he would go climbing with some of the other guys in the village. Vidar would go with him sometimes too.” Magne looked over at Lauritis who was curious to know what Magne was thinking. Magne knowing what he had been told by Vidar knew that Turid’s story did not sound right, even if the circumstance seemed okay to her.  
“Who found dad?”  
“Vidar found your dad. He was going up to his cabin to do some maintenance on it and he noticed someone lying on the ground near some huge rocks. He called an ambulance, the ambulance came and they did what they could, but you father died later that night, internal injuries and a head injury.”  
“No one investigated the accident?” inquired Magne.  
“Why? It was just what it was, an accident, just like it was with your friend Isolde.”  
“Don’t you think it was rather suspicious that Vidar just happened to be around when both of those incidents occurred? Dad’s death was no accident, Isolde’s death was no accident either.” Turid looked at Magne like she didn’t believe him. It all sounded so crazy really. Lauritis was skeptical of what Magne was trying to say, but it was making more sense to him, suppose Vidar Jutal was responsible for their father’s death? Lauritis thought about why Vidar would feel the need to kill their father Ashbjorn. Were he and Turid having an affair and Vidar or Turid or both of them wanted Ashbjorn out of the way. If Turid and Vidar wanted Ashbjorn out of they way and wanted to be together, why was Vidar still married to Ran? Maybe Ashbjorn had found out something about Vidar and Jutal Industries that he was not meant to find out. Lauritis thought about Isolde and what she found out before she died. Lauritis suddenly got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. If Vidar was killing people in order to keep his secrets, Magne was definitely a target. Lauritis would have to figure out some way to protect Magne if Vidar tried to hurt his brother. Lauritis did not finish his breakfast, he pushed his chair back and excused himself from the table. Turid and Magne were still at the table. Turid did not want to think about what they had just talked about. Ashbjorn had been dead twelve years this past March, he had died on the twenty second. Magne’s friend Isolde had died on March twenty first almost twelve years later. Random coincidence the two deaths were connected by date. Both people had died in a similar manner, on a mountain. Neither death had been investigated either. Turid sat silently for a moment as she drank her coffee, she looked like she had a lot on her mind thought Magne as he got up to put the dishes in the sink to wash them. Turid got up.

  
“I have to go down to office, I got called in this morning, I suppose they will be handing me a pink slip after what Lauritis did, this won’t take long.” Magne sadly looked at his mother. He hated what had happened, but someone had to try to make things right in Edda, it wasn’t going to be an easy process.  
“I am going to get dressed and get over there, I will see you shortly. Do not leave this house, tell Lauritis do not leave this house. Lauritis told me that Gry was back home again, but no one knows about Fjor or where he is.”  
“I am sure that he is fine, wherever he is Mom.”  
“I certainly hope so. I will see you later.” Said Turid as she went back to her room to get ready to go to her job and whatever circumstances awaited her. Magne finished the dishes and went back upstairs to his room. He found Fjor setting at his desk listening to some music. The music sounded horrible. Magne thought the music sounded like rocks falling from a mountain. He frowned, Fjor turned the music off and laughed.  
“Icelandic.”  
“What?”  
“The singer is singing in Icelandic; it is the old language.” Magne nodded his head.  
My mom is out of the house, if you want to, you can go and take a shower, she says that she will be back soon, she probably got fired after yesterday.”  
“Why would she get fired, they don’t know about you and what you did to Vidar.”  
“Ran probably told Vidar about how Lauritis embarrassed her yesterday when he gave that speech. Ran probably knows what I did to Vidar if Vidar told her. They probably sent word to someone at Jutal to have mom fired.”  
“I don’t think anyone will fire your mom, if anything she was due for a promotion. Vidar had wanted to promote her to his personal assistant, he was discussing it a few weeks ago. He said that he needed someone that he could trust to handle his personal business at work. Magne sat and listened to Fjor, he didn’t want to imagine what personal business that Turid and Vidar might have. Fjor got up and prepared to go and take a shower. Lauritis knocked on Magne’s door. Magne told him to come in.  
“Oskar texted me, he said that Ran called his mom and told him that Vidar is okay, he is conscious now. It will be a while before he can come home, probably some time next week. He told Ran and Saxa that he didn’t remember what happened, he didn’t realize that he had been struck by lightning.” Magne listened intently, despite what Lauritis said, he still didn’t know what this meant for him and he worried about Gry too. The bedroom door opened, Fjor walked into the room. Lauritis spoke.  
“Your dad is okay, he is still in the hospital, he will be there for a while. Ran and Saxa won’t be coming back to Edda until sometime Monday afternoon, I just got off of the phone with Oskar. Fjor sighed.  
“Oskar called you.”  
“Texted. You know that they are still looking for you, they went by to question Gry this morning too, Oskar’s mom said that they plan to come by and question Magne sometime this weekend, they think that you were the last person to see Gry or Fjor. I don’t know how that will go.”  
“I don’t know how that will go either she won’t be able to tell them anything about where I am. I told her if anyone asked about yesterday, just tell them that we went riding around. She agreed because she didn’t want anyone to find out what really happened.” Lauritis was curious.  
“So, what really happened up there at the warehouse?”  
“It is a long story Lauritis, we will have to tell you when we figure all of this out about what to tell the police. In the meantime, let Fjor get dressed while I try to figure out when the police will be stopping by here.” Said Magne as he ushered Lauritis out of the room.  
“You and your brother are very different!” said Fjor as he got some clothes out of the closet so that he could get dressed. Magne prepared to go back downstairs.  
“Yeah, do you need anything before I go back downstairs?”  
“No, thanks for what you have done, I am sorry that you had to be involved in all of this.”  
“Things happened that no one expected to happen. I don’t know how all of this will end, but I hope things will be better here in Edda after all of this is resolved.” Fjor nodded.  
“Lock this door after I leave.” Said Magne as he walked out of the door to go back downstairs to watch tv with his brother Lauritis. Magne went back downstairs and sat down across from Lauritis as he turned the tv on. About an hour later, Turid came back into the house, she had gone to the Edda Grille and brought in three pizzas. She seemed very happy about something. For someone who had just been fired, she was in good spirits thought Lauritis. Magne was curious about Turid’s mood.

  
“For an unemployed person, you seem very happy, what happened over there?”  
“Well I went in expecting to be fired, but the Human Resources officer told me that I had been considered for another job within the company a few weeks ago, it would seem Vidar needs a personal assistant.”  
“Ni—ice!” said Lauritis in a joking manner. Turid frowned and Magne smirked.  
“Well anyway, it was three of us that were considered for the position. I was chosen Thursday afternoon. Vidar called from Oslo this morning and gave permission for me to start in the position as soon as possible.” Magne spoke.  
“How is he doing?”  
“Vidar is conscious and talking, he took quite a jolt, the hospital will be keeping him until sometime next week, he won’t be able to go back to work until his doctors give him medical clearance. Ran and Saxa are still with him, they will come back here to Edda on Monday, I will start my new position on Monday morning. The position pays so much better, I am salaried now too.” Said Turid as she talked about her new job. Lauritis and Magne looked at one another, they were glad that their mom was so happy, but they wondered if her new job came with strings attached. Turid told the boys to enjoy their pizza, she had other plans, she and Erik were going to spend some time together that afternoon and she would be back home sometime later that evening. The boys said okay. Turid had grabbed her keys and had opened the door when the police pulled up outside. Oskar’s mother Ygnvild and another detective walked up to the door.  
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Seier, I was wondering could I talk to Magne and Lauritis. It is about Fjor Jutal. May I come in?” Magne and Lauritis looked at one another nervously.  
“Yes, come on in, the boys are here.” Said Turid as she invited the police officers into her home. The detectives looked around and they greeted the boys. Turid invited the officers to sit down. Magne and Lauritis walked over to the table and sat down. Yngvild spoke.  
“Magne, Lauritis, may I ask you both some questions?” Both boys nodded.  
“I would like to know if you have seen Fjor Jutal, he has been missing since sometime yesterday afternoon. We questioned Gry about Fjor, she told us that they had been riding around, they went to the mountains and then got something to eat in another town. She told us he dropped her off at home after midnight. She thought that he may have heard about his father being hurt and drove to Oslo to be with him, but I called Ran and he has not showed up, she is very worried about him. Do either of you know where he could be? Have you heard from him recently?”  
“No, I haven’t seen Fjor since I saw him and Gry walking together yesterday afternoon. I walked past them both, I came home, changed shoes and walked to the mountains.” Said Magne.  
“Why did you leave the ceremony? Was there any particular reason that you decided to go to the mountains yesterday?” asked Ygnvild.  
“I just needed to get away. I had a lot on my mind, I needed to be alone.”  
“The ceremony ended around six o’clock because of the thunderstorm, what time did you get home? Asked Detective Ragnarrson.  
“I got home last night after eleven. I went walking around for a few hours, I stopped at the Edda Grille to get something to eat and then I came home. What does any of this have to do with Fjor Jutal?”  
“We just need to make sure that everyone’s story matches up. As of now, we know that you and Fjor’s paths did not cross. He was with Gry the entire time, as to where he went past that point, we aren’t sure.”  
“Magne was home before someone called and told us that Gry and Fjor were missing.” Said Turid.  
Lauritis spoke. “Are you trying to say that Magne did something to Fjor? Turid and Magne looked to Yngvild and the other detective.  
“No, I am not implying Magne did something to Fjor. If anything, Fjor is probably hiding out somewhere, we think he and his father may have had some type of disagreement before all of this happened according to Ran. She thinks that he could be at one of their cabins in the mountains, we will be going up there to check after we leave here. Wherever he is, he has his telephone turned off, Saxa has been trying to text him as well, he hasn’t texted her back. Besides if Fjor was with Gry, Magne obviously didn’t do anything to him.”  
Officer Ragnarrson nodded in agreement as did Turid. Yngvild got up and told the group that they were leaving, she thanked Lauritis and Magne and told them to contact her if they heard anything from Fjor. The boys told her that they would. Turid walked the officers to the door and waved good-bye. She walked back into the kitchen, picked up her purse, car keys and got ready to go to Erik’s house.  
“Boys, be on your best behavior today, I don’t think that you know anything about where Fjor is, but if he were to contact either of you, please tell him to get in contact with his family, they are worried about him.” Magne spoke.  
“I don’t think that I will hear from him. He and Lauritis are closer.” Lauritis looked up from his phone.  
“Fjor could be anywhere right now, he’s probably hiding in plain sight.” Laughed Lauritis as he looked over at Magne who was visibly nervous. Turid noticed his nervousness.  
“Magne, I know that you didn’t have anything to do with this. Fjor will show up when he is ready too. Why don’t you eat some lunch, watch some tv and relax, you have been through a lot these past weeks. You and Lauritis watch out for each other while I am gone. I will call and check on the both of you in a few hours.” Turid hugged Magne and Lauritis. She looked at her boys as they smiled at her as she got ready to go to Erik’s house. Turid grabbed one of the pizzas before she closed the door to leave. Magne looked at the pizza in the big boxes, great both pizzas were meat lovers specials, he went over to grab one, he told Lauritis to grab a soda, some plastic cups and plates. The two boys headed upstairs and Magne knocked on his door. Fjor quickly got up to unlock and open the door. Magne and Lauritis sat the cups, plates, soda and pizza down. Lauritis grabbed a chair from his room, he came back in and grabbed two slices of pizza and some soda. Magne did the same as did Fjor. The room was silent until Magne spoke.

  
“The police were here earlier they were asking had we seen you and we told them no, they plan to go to cabins that your family own and look for you there.”  
“I couldn’t go to the cabins even if I wanted too. Ran and Saxa could come back at any time looking for me. My SUV is parked at home, I couldn’t take it with me, I had to walk over here along the tree lines after dark just to get here. How did things go with your mom? Does she know how Vidar is doing?”  
“You were right, mom did get a promotion, she starts that job on Monday. Vidar is doing okay, he is going to be in the hospital for a minute, your mom and sister are with him, they are coming back to Edda sometime on Monday from what I heard.” Said Magne as he ate his pizza. Lauritis looked at Fjor.  
“Can I ask you something, what happened between my mom and your dad years ago? Since we came back to Edda, she can’t keep his name off of her lips. What’s with that?” Magne grinned and Fjor laughed.  
“Your mom and Vidar were in love with one another, they were lovers for years according to Ran. She implied that he still has feelings for her, that is why she got the promotion.” Magne and Lauritis looked at one another, Magne spoke.  
“It seems mom still has feelings for Vidar too, his name comes up quite often in this house.”  
“How long did they date?” asked Lauritis.  
“From what I heard, they were dating in high school, it was implied that they were seeing one another even after the both of them got married.” Replied Fjor looking back at Lauritis.  
“So, Mom was having an affair with Vidar while she was married. How could she, she lied to us Lauritis!” Fjor looked at an angry Magne with a grin.  
“Your mom probably did what she did because your father had a few girlfriends scattered here and there in Edda too. He was a pretty popular guy. Ran even commented on how handsome and popular he was.”  
“Ran and our dad?” inquired Lauritis.  
“No, I don’t think that she slept with your dad. I guess he was your dad.”  
“Just what does that mean? Said Magne.  
“I wasn’t implying that Ashbjorn wasn’t your dad, I said it to mean Lauritis.” Lauritis looked at Fjor silently asking him to continue with his story.  
“One night when Ran and Vidar were fighting and throwing things and slicing at one another, Ran was chastising Vidar about his affairs, she said that she never had a child by another man. Vidar told her that he wasn’t even sure that Turid’s youngest son was his, she wasn’t sure about the baby. Anyway, Turid was already married and after the baby was born, she never approached Vidar about the subject again.” Magne and Lauritis were in shock. They wondered did their dad know about Vidar possibly being Lauritis’s dad. Magne started thinking what if Ashbjorn knew Lauritis wasn’t his child, suppose that he confronted Vidar about this, what if the two men got into an argument about this and that is why Vidar killed Ashbjorn? That might explain some things. Vidar did not tell him exactly why he killed his father,  
he didn’t tell him outright that he had killed his father, but he made it no secret that he had a hand in Ashbjorn’s death. Magne wondered how Lauritis was taking all of this. Lauritis was sitting by the window. He was so silent thought Magne, the sun gave a reddish hue to his bright blond hair, his eyes also had a strange new color as well. Magne closed his eyes and shook his head, he figured he was still tired, that’s why his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Lauritis noticed how Fjor and Magne looked at one another and then over at him, he knew that they knew things that he did not yet know. Something happened yesterday at the warehouse, he needed to know what happened. These recent revelations could be a game changer for him. Suppose Vidar was his father? He had always wanted to be wealthy, but knowing what he knew now, there is no way that he wanted to be associated with the Jutals. Fjor was cool, he could see him as his half-brother, maybe Saxa as a half-sister, but Ran and Vidar were just despicable, especially after what they did to Magne. Ashbjorn, Turid and Magne were the only family that he had ever had, he loved them and always would, but it didn’t hurt to have an ally or two on the other side either. Right now, he needed to know exactly what went on yesterday at the warehouse.  
“What happened at the warehouse yesterday? What is this big secret between the two of you? Does this have something to do with what happened to Vidar? Why was Gry involved in this? Why are you hiding from Ran and Saxa?” Magne and Fjor looked at Lauritis.  
“Fjor and I are both hiding from Saxa, she probably wants us dead for what we did and didn’t do yesterday replied Magne.” Lauritis looked confused.  
“Saxa, Ran and Vidar want me dead because I didn’t kill Gry like they asked me too.”  
“They want me dead because I exposed Vidar’s barrels of poison hidden in the glacier. I also know that he killed our father and Isolde. I am glad that I did what I did to him yesterday.”  
“What did you do to him yesterday?” inquired Lauritis.  
“I summoned lightening and electrocuted Vidar. I honestly thought that he was dead.” Joked Magne as he laughed and shook his head. Fjor managed a giggle too.  
“Yeah, those mental health people were right, you are crazy, you do need those pills on top of the refrigerator mom brought home for you after all. Magne, no one can call down lightening and strike someone. You know how crazy that sounds.”  
“He is not lying Lauritis, I think your brother is a god if he is, he is the Nordic god Thor. I think that you could be the incarnation of the trickster god Loki.” Lauritis laughed.  
“Yeah, okay, let me guess you are Odin or Freyr perhaps.” Joked Lauritis.  
“No actually I am a Jotun. You know, a giant. That is why I live at Jotunheim. Saxa, Ran and Vidar are giants as well.”  
“You and Magne are taking this Norse Mythology thing way too far. Those stories are just what they are guys—stories. Hello!”  
“All things begin and end with stories.” Said Fjor as he looked over at Lauritis.

  
“Is Gry a goddess too?”  
“No. She just knows too much, that is why Vidar wants her dead.” Said Magne.  
“I am glad that you stepped in yesterday, I didn’t want to kill Gry, but if Vidar and Saxa had found her they would have tortured her and then killed her, after Gry was killed, the plan was probably to frame you for her death.”  
“So, they are trying to find you to kill you because you didn’t kill Gry?” asked Lauritis.  
“Yeah.” Lauritis thought for a moment.  
“Giants lived ages ago, just how old are you? How did you manage to live so long?”  
“In human years I am nineteen, I am immortal so I am very old. It’s complicated.” Said Fjor as he tried to explain things to a now confused Lauritis.  
“How am I Thor then, as far as I know, mom and dad were mortals, I guess.” Asked Magne.  
“Your ancestors were giants and gods. Your mom had ancestors that descended from giants. Your father had ancestors that descended from gods. Your paternal grandfather Modi was thought to be a god as was your father Ashbjorn.” Magne shook his head.  
“Father was probably a mortal; I don’t think he was a god.”  
“Maybe not, but Vidar was always suspicious of him, that is why he hired him to work as an engineer at Jutal Industries. He wanted to keep an eye on him.”  
“The same reason that he wants mom as his personal assistant, to keep an eye on her and Magne.” Said Lauritis as Fjor nodded his head.  
“Vidar gave mom the job to keep an eye on me.” Fjor and Lauritis nodded.  
“Vidar doesn’t do anything without a motive, believe me on that one. He has always been that way, even ages ago, that is how he has survived for so long.”  
“Is Vidar really your father?” asked Magne.  
“No. Saxa is not my sister nor is Ran my mother.”  
“What are they to you then?” asked Lauritis.  
“Nothing really. We lost our families ages ago in the war. I was married and I had two children, a boy and a girl. Saxa had two little boys by one of the gods, the rumor was her boys were fathered by Thor, Ran was married to another giant and she had a daughter, Vidar had two wives and many children, we lost our families at the battle of Ragnarok.”  
“I don’t remember much that battle, I don’t even think I was even there, but then I was, I can’t explain it.” Said Magne.”  
“I can’t explain things to you either, all of the gods were killed that day or so we thought. Most of the giants died that day too.” Said Fjor.  
“How did you survive?” asked Lauritis.  
“After the battle, we buried our dead and the survivors gathered together to decide what to do. Most of the survivors left and went to remote islands. A few of us stayed here in Edda. We were here for hundreds of years before humans came back again. The three of us, Ran, Saxa and I decided to ally with Vidar, he had been a leader and tribal elder before the war came. The humans that came to Edda believed that we were a family, a mother, father, sister and brother, we let them believe what they wanted to believe. We switch up roles with one another every twenty-five years or so because people start to get suspicious about our eternal youth. Since we were already here, we were their leaders and they worshipped us. That started to change a few hundred years ago. People started leaving the farms to go to other lands, so Vidar started hiring craftsmen, brought in industry and eventually manufacturing to this area and the area started to grow and prosper.”  
“Prosperity brought some very bad things with it too. Your factories are polluting the water and air here in Edda, people are dying.” Said Magne.  
“I know, Vidar knows too. Those barrels that were in the glacier, I put them there back in nineteen sixty-six, or sixty-seven, that was conventional wisdom in those days. The board of directors were notorious “yes men”, those greedy bastards went along with anything that maximized the company’s profit margin and fattened their pockets. The barrels didn’t become a problem until about twenty years ago, we checked them and they were leaking. Then the glacier started to melt faster than in previous generations, that caused the barrels to begin to rust and breakdown, it got worse about ten years ago. The chemicals started getting into the ground water, we paid people to say that the water samples were good, the mayor and Vidar are friends, so the topic of environmental safety is hush-hush here in Edda.”  
“Your water samples had cadmium, lead and mercury in them, pretty high levels too. I got Isolde’s water sample tested.” Said Magne as he looked over at Fjor.  
“Isolde was a nutcase!” said Fjor as he laughed.  
“Isolde wasn’t crazy. Her mother died of cancer, cancer she thought was caused by chemicals in the water, soil and air here in Edda!”  
“Okay, I can see Isolde’s point of view. A lot of people have died of cancer over the years here, it doesn’t mean our factories are solely to blame, look at how humans live, you eat a high fat diet, loaded with sugar, salt and processed food. You drink, smoke and you don’t exercise, you cannot expect a good outcome with such poor efforts on your part either.”  
“You do some of the same stuff you just listed, you are no poster boy for good health either Fjor.” Said Lauritis as he looked over at Fjor.  
“Says he who smokes like a freight train!” teased Fjor as he looked at Lauritis.  
“No one is blameless here. We all need to do more in all aspects of our lives. We can all change our diets and exercise more but, we are the mercy of corporations dumping illegal waste into our water.” Said “Magne as he got up and looked out of the window. Fjor thought about what Magne had said. It was true, if Jutal Industries expected to survive in the future they would have to change their policies. Magne, sensing they were treading on a sensitive topic, changed the subject.

  
“Tell me something, who was your sister Saxa married to in her previous life?” Fjor laughed.  
“Saxa wasn’t married, but she had a lover and her lover was Thor. Thor fathered her two little boys, Magne and Modi.”  
“What happened to her children?” asked Lauritis.  
“We don’t know, they could have been taken away somewhere, some survivors took in other people’s children. She says she never saw them again after the battle. She had always assumed that they had died. After her children disappeared, she was never really the same.” Said Fjor as he looked at the sunshine streaming in through the window. He longed to be out in the sunshine, he had wanted to go Gry’s house and listen to some music. Maybe later, they could have gone to the Edda Grille for a burger and ride around in the mountains later in the day. There would be none of that now, maybe never again. What if Gry still hated him for what he had tried to do to her yesterday? Could he really blame her? He had explained everything that he could tell her yesterday. He had sworn her to secrecy. She agreed not to tell anyone. He told her that he loved her, she looked at him like she did not believe him, he couldn’t blame her, he did try to kill her after all, she had kissed him before she got out of his SUV. Fjor knew that he would have to make it up to her some kind of way, he knew that if he had a future, he wanted Gry to be part of it. Magne looked at Fjor, he wondered what the other boy was thinking. He decided not to ask. Lauritis spoke.  
“I just got another text from Saxa, she said that Vidar wanted to see you. Everyone has told her that they don’t know where you are. She is getting frantic. I told her that no one has seen you since you walked off with Gry yesterday. I told her that you had dropped Gry off at home last night and no one had seen you since. I told her the police were looking for you.”  
“I don’t know what I am going to do, I cannot stay here with you, your mom and Magne, I don’t want to put you in danger.”  
“Stay here as long as you need to, I don’t plan to tell mom and I don’t think that Lauritis will either.” Said Magne as he got up to take the empty plates, cups and pizza box down to the garbage can.  
“What do you plan to do Fjor?”  
“I plan to go to school when I know that Ran and Saxa are there, I want to meet them in a public space, that way if anything happens, I will have witnesses.” Both boys laughed. Fjor looked over at Magne.  
“So, what’s the deal with your mom and Erik? Your mom has been spending quite a bit of time at his house, are they dating now?” asked a curious Fjor. Magne shook his head and smiled, Lauritis laughed.  
“I guess she is helping him grieve, I don’t think it is more than that, if it is, she hasn’t told us.” Said Lauritis.”  
“Vidar still talks about your mom quite a lot, Ran gets jealous and tells Vidar that he is still in love with her, he has never denied Ran’s words. Vidar still loves your mom, they could not be together because that would mean that he would have had to reveal what he is, he did not want to deal with her rejecting him if she found out.”  
“I guess there are fights that Vidar is not brave enough to handle.” Said Magne.  
“Well, if he fell in love with your mom, he would have to behave like a real human with emotions and that is not Vidar or so he says. I am in love with Gry, if it means being human to be worthy of her love, then that is what I am willing to do.” Said Fjor. Lauritis laughed.  
“Magne, there goes your chance to get with Gry, Fjor just confessed his undying love to Princess Gry!” laughed Lauritis.  
“I can accept that Gry is Fjor’s girl, but if he ever missteps, I will be there to step in and help her forget him!” said Magne as he laughed at Fjor and Lauritis laughing at what he had just said. The three boys carried on with their day each wondering what would happen in the days ahead. Fjor knew that his fate was linked with Magne’s fate. Lauritis wondered just where he fit into the situation that his brother and friend were in. He wondered just how much that his mother knew about what had been going on. Maybe it was better that she didn’t know, maybe it would be safer for her if she didn’t know.

Magne got a text from Gry, she wanted to know what was going on with him and why was everyone looking for Fjor. He told her that he did not know where Fjor was and that he really could not explain what had happened yesterday in a text, he would have to meet her at school on Monday and try to explain what he knew then. She seemed satisfied with his answer. She also thanked him for saving her life the day before. The two texted several more messages before Magne told her that he had to go and do laundry. He really wanted to end the texts before she asked more questions that he would not be comfortable answering. Magne secretly knew that there would be a lot more questions arising in the near future that would just lead to more questions and not enough answers. He shook his head as he walked out of the room, Lauritis and Fjor wondered what Magne was thinking about as they watched him he leave the room and silently close the door behind him. One thing for certain was that Magne had a lot on his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe a multichapter fic.


End file.
